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Palpating Hiefers??

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J

just a small guy

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I am thinking to have our 50 replacement type hiefers palpated, preg checked, pelvic sized, check for freemartins etc. Is this a worth while venture? We plan to market them in the end of March. Is this of interest to you guys that buy new to you hiefers? Or is it just as well to sell them as?
 
Depends on how you sell them. I would pay more to have that done already. But I have been to a sale barn or two and they proclaimed all sorts of stuff that's just made up to sound good. So some people will probably just do it again just to be sure.
 
99% of all livestock is purchased based on visual appraisal. i would certainly have them preg checked. you may get more bang for your buck by just ultra sounding them for calving dates.
 
If I read it right he is just Preg checking to guarantee the are open. :)

I don't think it would pay you going to just a regular feeder sale. If you were taking them to "Special" Replacement hfr sale then maybe. :D
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
If I read it right he is just Preg checking to guarantee the are open. :) I don't think it would pay you going to just a regular feeder sale. If you were taking them to "Special" Replacement hfr sale then maybe. :D
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by golly, you might be right :oops:

in that case, i agree with BMR :D
 
In my opinion it would not pay you the extra dollars to cover the expense of doing all that. I do pelvic measure my own replacement heifers and use this as a culling tool before I breed them. I guess if you were going to sort off the smallest measuring heifers and not sell them as replacements then maybe? But then again what is too small for one operation might be just right for the next so how do you know where to draw the line? Just my two cents and not worth a whole lot. Anyway good luck with the sale and best wishes!
 
We have sold our hiefers to the same guy for three years. Last year he had a few freemartins and well as some open ones when he sold them in the fall. None of the free martins were necessarily from the ones he bought from us. Anyway he says this year he would like to check for freemartins before he buys. The open ones are pretty much in the hands of mother nature and him through the summer months. Also ours being pregnant is not a big concern, but I guess it is an added feature in palpating them. They will be sold privately. I am aware of the auction market 'sounds good' stories.
 
just a small guy said:
We have sold our hiefers to the same guy for three years. Last year he had a few freemartins and well as some open ones when he sold them in the fall. None of the free martins were necessarily from the ones he bought from us. Anyway he says this year he would like to check for freemartins before he buys. The open ones are pretty much in the hands of mother nature and him through the summer months. Also ours being pregnant is not a big concern, but I guess it is an added feature in palpating them. They will be sold privately. I am aware of the auction market 'sounds good' stories.
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Is the buyer willing to cover the cost of the procedure?
 
PATB said:
just a small guy said:
We have sold our hiefers to the same guy for three years. Last year he had a few freemartins and well as some open ones when he sold them in the fall. None of the free martins were necessarily from the ones he bought from us. Anyway he says this year he would like to check for freemartins before he buys. The open ones are pretty much in the hands of mother nature and him through the summer months. Also ours being pregnant is not a big concern, but I guess it is an added feature in palpating them. They will be sold privately. I am aware of the auction market 'sounds good' stories.
Click to expand...

Is the buyer willing to cover the cost of the procedure?
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A better question is how well you value this buyer and whether or not if he quits buying from you it will cost you money. If you get paid less if he goes somewhere else it would probably pay for its self to do this even if you don't see it directly. I buy heifers every year and pay a little more to know they are good quality. But if someone says I need an extra $20 to make sure our heifers are good quality I would go somewhere else.
 
On a private sale I suppose if you value the business of this customer and he does pay a premium over sale barn prices I probably would be a good practice.
If you had told us all this in your first thread it would have avoided a lot of second guesses.
 

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